WASHINGTON COUNTY DEMOCRATS
Meeting, Feb. 8, 2012
Fifteen Washington County Democrats met Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2012; in a second floor back meeting room of the Washington Public Library.
Chairman Peter Morrison called the meeting to order and led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Minutes of the January monthly meeting were declared ready to be filed for the record, with one correction: For the March 10 county convention, the paragraph should read:
New Business. County Convention will be held from noon until about 2:30 p.m., March 10, 2012, in the main floor meeting room (council chambers) of the former Washington Public Library. We will be having a potluck at 10:30, with everyone encouraged to bring a favorite dish to share.”
We also discussed the actual time frame for the county convention and agreed that attendees could register/sign up beginning at 10:30 a.m. A potluck dinner will follow and should be finished (including cleanup) by about 11:30 or 11:45 a.m. The actual business of the county convention is scheduled to begin promptly at noon. This will be stated on the blog and Web site.
Treasure Kay Ciha gave the treasurer’s report and distributed printed copies. Cash on hand on Jan. 11, 2012, was $1,554.67. There was no income. Expenses were for stamps and envelopes totaling $147.01. Cash on hand on Feb. 8, 2012, was $1,407.66. Kay reminded us that it is time for annual dues.
Chairman Pete Morrison gave the Report of the Chair, on post-caucuses. The packets of information from the caucus were sent to the Iowa Democratic Party on Jan. 12. Numbers of delegates representing the various precincts were: Precinct 1, five delegates; Precinct 2, five delegates; Precinct 3, six delegates, Precinct 4, five delegates; Riverside, about eight delegates; Kalona, five delegates; English River, three delegates.
Old Business. Caucus material had been sent to Iowa Democratic Party by priority mail, and the IDP had acknowledged by e-mail that everything we needed to send them had been received. A few registrations went to the auditor’s office.
Names of delegates have been sent in. In some cases we did not receive a complete list. There had not been a designation on the forms to list e-mail addresses, etc. We are short some delegates -- Brighton, for instance, has no delegates. Pete plans to notify as many delegates as he can, by e-mail. Terry said we would not need to worry about precincts for county convention as long as we have the full number of delegates. We need 40 percent of the required 50 delegates there -- which could mean less than 25 delegates needed to fill the requirement. Convention-goers can be seated as delegates as necessary.
The Platform Committee had not met at the time of the February meeting. There was discussion on naming a committee member to be chair, as none of the committee members had expressed willingness to serve as Platform Committee chair. Pete stated that we would be going with the platform from 2010. There are a number of suggestions and changes to be considered for the 2012 platform. The Platform Committee members will consider the multi-page list of suggestions eventually. Also, the Constitution and bylaws from Second District will be finalized in April 2012.
There is a Resolutions Committee, and Pete got a county convention guide sheet from IDP, about 36 pages long -- some of which he said did not seem to make much sense. He will try to get a Rules Committee and send the members’ names to IDP this week.
We were reminded that the county convention would take the place, of the regular monthly Democratic Party meeting for March, as was also the case in 2010.
New Business. We discussed advertising for the county convention, and it was the consensus that there would be no need to advertise. Adhali Larios-Hernandez said it could be done via social media. We did agree that, for notifying the public of the convention, we would have an announcement on KCII Radio and on the “community calendar” section of The Washington Evening Journal.
In the Second District, Harvey has resigned as treasurer and Webmaster. Sandy Dockendorff has been named to that position. At least the Second District has been informed about the time and date of the county convention. Kay said she enters dates and times of our meetings on the Facebook page.
Sandra Johnson is in charge of securing the location for the convention and seeing that we are able to get into the site (former public library in Washington) in time to get set up. Sandra is also in charge of people to help with tables, etc. Pete delegated Kay to be in charge of food arrangements. Kay has plates, etc., from the last event.
Upcoming Events. Second District convention is April 28. Second District meeting is Feb. 26 at Fort Madison High School. This Saturday, Feb. 11, there is a campaign strategy discussion in the Indiana Room at Iowa Memorial Union at 5:45 p.m., to discuss potential candidates -- for instance, for the Senate district. Jared, for Representative Dave Loebsack, will be in the Washington Chamber of Commerce next Wednesday from 10 a.m. until noon and available for anyone who wishes to speak to him about some issues.
Two guests attended the meeting. Sara Sedlacek announced herself as a candidate for House District 88, and has plenty of volunteer opportunities for anyone willing to spend time throughout Muscatine, Louisa and Des Moines counties. Some of her work experiences include being editor of a West Liberty newspaper. She was a former Culver staff member, worked for two months in Chicago on the mayoral race, and then returned to Iowa and worked in the Iowa House. She and her husband bought a house and the coffee shop in West Liberty. Her opponent is Tom Sands, House Ways and Means Chair. District 88 is very eager to get some real representation. Iowa’s highest Latino population is in her district. There are 160 more Democrats than Republicans, but there are a lot more Independents. Democrats represent probably 39 percent, and there are lesser percentages for the Republicans and the Independents. She has strong support around Columbus Junction and could use our help especially in Des Moines County. She is also looking for a campaign manager.
LeAnne Hassman, of near Kalona, was also a guest. She was there to observe what the Democratic Party is doing.
Kay brought up the fact that Richard Gilmore is running for the county supervisor seat in District 4, and she will run for the county supervisor seat in District 1. Kay has a smaller percentage of Democrats than Republicans in her district.
Motion was made and seconded to adjourn, motion passed, and meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Stark, Secretary
